In Between
by iasant
Summary: "The only meaning that existed was that they were two souls fusing together as one in literally every meaning of the word." At the edges of time, Soul and Maka have the world entirely to themselves.


The idea came to me from reading an AU fanfiction called: "Dragon" by Odat. It made me feel like really I wasn't reading something of a different story, but just Soul and Maka leading another life. Her lovely story is referenced briefly, as it was the spark to the flame of an idea. Also referenced my husband's circus fic, so I'll dedicate it to him as well.

* * *

She smiled.

Melancholy hung in the air. It filled the room long after the quiet cries of her family had left. She had hated to say goodbye to them, but how beautiful it had been to have them surrounding her. Her children. Her children's children. Maka Albarn Evans had been surrounded by family in the final hours. From her own children trying to hold it together right down to the tiny cry of her only great granddaughter. The baby hadn't understood at all, and yet she had felt the most connected to her out of everyone. She had reached out with one shaking hand to touch the fragile skin of the new life as her great granddaughter had let out a drool filled cry. Together their hands met, hers old, withered and wrinkled, the child's fresh and full of color. She saw a lifetime of possibilities in those red eyes that were as beautiful as the person she had inherited them from. The baby stopped crying and Maka had smiled. Together she and that infant completed the circle of life. With her last breath the child would grow and what they had started would continue long after them.

Despite her love for them, she had felt relieved when she had finally been allowed to rest. There were promises of tomorrows, but the faces knew otherwise. The clock on the wall ticked, she counted its seconds as she took painful and labored breaths. Maka had always been so brave and yet her heart stuck so heavily in her chest as she faced the darkness of oncoming night. She was happy, but unsure. How could she leave her loved ones behind to their pain and their loss when she knew the terrorizing grip that it could hold on one's heart? Yet, she was so ready to let go. A lifetime of exhaustion had its hold on her and a lifetime of sleep seemed its only cure.

She breathed in and out, the machine the only thing that really thing keeping her tied down. What a life it had been! It had been scary and hard and violent. Yet at every corner there had been hope and beauty and there had been love. The greatest evidence of that love had just exited the room. She glanced over to the door, almost wishing that she had accepted one of her children's offer to stay. She wasn't alone though and that surprised her, but she knew that presence. Death the Kid, who had long ago taken the roll of Shinigami stood in the shadows watching her.

"That's…kind of creepy you know." He chuckled and entered, moving to sit down next to the bed. Covering his face was the same mask of the man who had fathered him. "Hey, take that thing off. It's just wrong seeing you like that." He did as told, peeling away the mask, the gloves, the carefully placed coverings that kept him separate from the humanity he had let go of years ago. He hadn't shown his face since he'd taken the souls of his own two beloved weapons. They were the last of them and soon she would leave his side as well. Oh he had new weapons and meisters that he cared deeply about. Her own grandchildren were an active part of the academy, but this was different. They had formed a bond so many years ago as children and he had watched as one by one they had left. Each one taken by his own hand. She had hated him for it and loved him as a friend in one complicated relationship that they had clung to until this moment. It hadn't even been that long ago that she'd screamed at him as he'd taken her husband, weapon, and soul mate away from her. He had held her in his arms as she sobbed and promised her that it wouldn't be long without him. And it hadn't been. It was as if her soul could not function properly without it's other half and in her old age her body had withered quickly with it as well.

"Hey Maka." He looked so young still, so untouched by the time that had stolen away the rest of their youth.

"Hey Kid." They held hands in the dark, gripping to each other. It was so hard to breathe and it was so hard to stay awake.

He reached out to brush a tear that fell. "There is nothing to be afraid of. Not this time." She nodded and knew in the comfort of his touch that he was right. She felt it in the air of the room, though her human mind was still not able to put her finger upon it. It felt like hope. Her eyes lingered upon a light that seemed to fill the space of the room. Her heart was warmed and she couldn't stop the smile from forming. When he saw that smile, the Grim Reaper leaned over her. "Sleep now, my best meister. You've earned it." She closed her eyes and gave in to the exhaustion. He set her free with a final kiss to her wrinkled cheek.

Maka wasn't sure how much time passed, but she wondered where Kid had gone. He must have left after she'd fallen to sleep. She opened her eyes slowly. It still dark out. Odd, the clock on the wall had stopped, she'd been so enjoying watching the ticking of the hands as each second was added to her life. How amazing to have gained so many seconds. She looked at the machine next to her bed. It had fallen silent. In fact, she realized that there was no sound at all. She was nervous again and wishing that she'd really allowed her daughter to stay behind with her. It struck her then that she was not even hooked up to the machine and that she was in fact laid out in a perfect white gown, a memory from decades ago.

And it wasn't silent. No, there was a distant sound, like the twinkling of bells. No, it wasn't that.

A piano! Never before had she loved such a sound so much. A realization dawned on her. No longer was life a barrier keeping them apart. He had to be here.

"Soul." She whispered his name into the dark. She wasn't sure what was happening, but she could feel him in the darkness. "Soul." She called out a little bit louder, testing the word again. "Soul…Soul…Soul…Soul…" Each time she called out she thought she heard the piano music increase its volume. It seemed to fill the halls, it seemed to fill her being. Each note wound its way through her skin, her mind, her spirit, and she cradled them inside of her heart like a woman who was parched for a drink of water. She tossed her legs over the side of the bed. No pain at all. In fact she moved with an ease she hadn't felt since her childhood. She was young again.

Stretching her arms above her head she savored the feeling of movement and freedom. The sound of her heels clicking against marble echoed in time with the beat of the music. He was here and she had to find a way to get to him. Leaving the darkened bedroom, she entered the hallway. It was too dark to barely see anything, but she could hear the music and she could feel it in every fiber of her being and that guided her onward into the darkness. While her steps were tentative at first, it wasn't long before she was running down to hallway, using everything she had to get to him. She knew every sweet note she heard because it was the first song that had tied them to each other. She had laughed than, she'd been young and she hadn't understood. It had taken a lifetime to understand those notes and as she heard the song now she understood music in a way her living body had not. He had been right all along, no textbook would ever allow a person to understand music.

Faster. Faster. Faster. She would have sworn without the clicking of heels she was flying. It was so loud now. Strong and loud. After what seemed like hours she saw a light, a bright glowing light and she dashed for it.

She stopped immediately upon entering. For a moment she was blinded and had to lift her arm to cover her eyes. It took a few minutes for the burn of the light to calm down and her sight to adjust. Yet when it did, she found that there was really just a room filled with candelabras and curtains. It was draped in red and black and white and drenched in candlelight. She couldn't even remember the last time she had stood there. It was beautiful.

More beautiful was the sight before her. The baby grand wide open and singing its notes as skilled fingers ran over it. She gasped and placed a white gloved hand against her lips. His sat before her, in his pinstripe suit, letting his fingers fly across the keys. It played in a way that no human ever could. The way that he could only ever play when she was given permission to enter his soul. How could she interrupt him when she was afraid that he'd vanish if she touched him? They hadn't been apart long in life, but it had been too long. She had simply been unable to fully recover with half of herself missing and could she dare hope that they were finally together again? Or would this be a dream and she'd wake up to Kid sitting by her bed with the weight of age and decaying health sucking the life from her veins?

She felt the tears fall down her cheeks and she cried out; "SOUL!"

He stopped playing, a wicked grin edging on his lips. That bastard, he always grinned like that. Slowly he stood up and with all the cockiness of his youth, turned around to face her. "Hey, Angel."

She sobbed out then and ran towards him, throwing herself against him. The memories of his graveside, the lonely nights searching for his warmth in their bed, the strength and courage she had clung to just to survive each agonizing day lifted from her heart as he welcomed her into his arms. She cried and cried and he rocked her in his arms.

"I missed you. Don't ever leave me again! I love you…l love you…I love you!" The words poured from her lips and he smiled and stroked her hair. He couldn't hold back a tear himself because while time passed in a different way in this world of theirs, seconds without her still felt like years. He had played the piano endlessly just in hopes that she would catch the notes on the wind. She understood now why she'd heard him in her sleep. He had been helping her find her way back to him.

They grasped at each other, clutching to clothing as they tried to reassure themselves that wherever they were, they were together. She leaned back and looked into his eyes. There was love there, but also lust. "C..can we?" When had she become so timid around him? They had after all shared years of passion together. He laughed and reached down to cup her chin.

"Maka, we can do whatever we want." They kissed then and he swept her up into his arms and brought her to a bed that was somehow there at just the right time. He lay her down, leaned over her. The way he looked was hungry and she was quite sure she was about to be devoured in the most delicious way. Soul didn't move in on her right away, in fact he glanced over her. She looked the way they had in her purest moment, where together their courage had crushed the darkness and they had sliced through the Kishin. "I'd forgotten how beautiful you looked that day."

"I had blood on my face."

"You really need to learn to take a compliment." He shook his head at her and his hands moved down one of her arms, dragging off it's respective glove. "Because you looked beautiful that day. You always looked beautiful. Right up until your last breath."

She frowned then and he wished that he hadn't said anything. "So it's really over then?" A sadness tugged at her heart and she couldn't help but think about their lives and how quickly they had happened. So many moments to cherish and she had just left behind a family that would grieve for her when they had not yet fully stopped grieving for him. He brought up a finger to wipe her eyes. "They will be fine. We taught them well and we'll see them again." She smiled and nodded, sadness had a different meaning there and it seemed to fade into an understanding that in fact everything would be okay. She certainly was. Gone were the days of his absence and the unbearable heartache. Her lips captured his in response to the memory. They needed desperately to get to know each other again. Long gone had been the days of their early love making when they could not tire. She hadn't felt this energy in years and she savored it.

Her fingers reached up to untie his tie and undo the buttons. She smoothed her palms over the skin of his chest as she moved downward. She gasped. There was no scar. "You…you're fixed!"

He kissed her forehead, because she was just so damn cute and he'd missed her so damn much. "These aren't really our bodies you know."

"No?" He stared down into her green eyes. She looked as she always did, wide eyed and blonde hair pulled back in pigtails. He couldn't help but touch the white feathers in her hair, she really was an angel now. Giving her a shake of his head he leaned back down to kiss her. "This is just how we best know each other."

She sighed against his lips. "But it feels so real."

"It's very real." His hands move along her other arm pulling off it's glove before he worked at both arms with his fingers. He massaged the skin, rolled his palms along it and allowed his fingers to dance along her body. "More real than anything ever was, but it's just a reflection of who we were, all of this is."

She trembled under his touch, tilting her head back. "Then I like this reflection." He'd been here longer than her and she wasn't entirely sure what he was talking about, but she couldn't quite wrap her head around the situation yet. It didn't matter enough to her, she had the matching half of her soul back. The part of her mind that had not yet left the human world behind was eager for more of that human connection. Whatever they were, whoever they were, she had to refresh her memory of him. As long as they were together, she was content. Soul seemed more than happy to oblige such carnal instincts, a wicked smile on his face as his teeth scraped against her throat.

Her own hands worked their way through the rest of his buttons and she pushed both coat jacket and shirt off of his back. She really liked that reflection, just as he had been so many years ago. It felt like the first time again. Only this time they were experienced and knew every place upon the others body. It struck her that she knew him in a way that she hadn't even been able to know him on Earth. It was as if her entire being was able to match his pace and know everything about him. She knew that he would moan before she'd even pressed her fingers to a pleasurable spot. They could hear each other' s minds and thoughts and they spoke silently without even the need of resonating. In fact, it occurred to her that they had been resonating all along. He drank in her skin, she hungered for his flesh. It was satisfaction and desire in every touch.

As intimate places were touched they cried out together, each one feeling the other's pleasure as if it had always been their own. Hours of touching and holding and kissing every place that could be kissed had surely passed, but for all she knew it had been years or even seconds. Time has lost all meaning. The only meaning that existed was that they were two souls fusing together as one in literally every meaning of the word. It made the lovemaking they had done on Earth feel insufficient and desperately lonely. Still, she knew that each time they had made love was an attempt to reach such an intimacy level, each orgasm a few seconds of leaving the earthly plain and allowing their souls to mingle the way they were meant to.

Hands were locked together, feet tangled around each other, and every limb somehow weaving itself together. He paused for a moment, holding back just enough before he severed that final line between them and stared down at her. There weren't any words that were needed so they let the silence roll off of them, speaking words through the hearts that could not be properly expressed through language. They reached out for the other and with a single thrust the final thread that had separated them in life was cut and their souls finally met, free from the cages of human bodies. The moved together in a musical harmony so perfect that it might have deafened the ears of the living. There was no ending and there was no beginning and they savored the flow of life that coursed through their existence. Everything was understood, all the information of the world at their disposal and they bathed in it together lost to both heaven and earth as they made love to the other in their own private space, somewhere between.

And when they could not possibly tolerate anymore they merely let go and let the flood of time wash over them until they were left at last satiated and content.

"This is Heaven." She finally spoken when the waves had passed over them. "I've finally found Heaven." Maka tucked herself against him, enjoying the simplicity of just laying there after such an experience. There souls had returned, still tucked together and connected, though the reflection of their bodies was not. He pressed his lips to her temple and shook his head.  
"It's not."

"Well it's sure not Hell." She laughed and leaned up to look down at him.

"Not that either."

"Okay then? So what? Purgatory? Are we just stuck here in this bed for the rest of eternity? Actually…I think I'm okay with that." He laughed at her then, his lips finding the tip of her nose. So damn cute.

"You're getting closer." With ease, he moved out from under her and stood up. She took his outstretched hand and stood up. She was naked but there was no shame in it, not even the slightest self awareness of her body. Maka simply was. He did not hide his nakedness either, a fact for which she greatly approved. They walked together down a hall, hand in hand. "I was waiting for you here because I knew you would find me, think of this place more like a waiting room. We can stay however long you like, but it's far more beautiful outside." He stopped at twin iron doors.

She laid her head upon his shoulder. "I'm ready." He opened them and she stepped outside. Where the darkness of the black room had a closed in cave-like feeling, beyond those doors everything she saw was bright and open. It should have taken her time to adjust her eyes, but it did not. There was stone beneath her feet and she realized as she stood upon the edge of a cliff, inches away from it's descent into the valley below, that this was the most familiar place in the whole world to her.

"I've been here before." She looked back at him expectantly.

"Yup."

"Over and over again!" He nodded, smiling at her as he took a step towards her and placed a hand on her back. Colors bled together in an array of light far more beautiful than any artwork could ever portray. Animals and humans danced in the valley below. What she was reminiscent of life, but on a far grander scale than anything she had ever seen. She knew than that she had walked through life with a wall beside her, keeping her sealed off from something she had not even known she'd been missing. Every once in awhile in her dreams she would catch glimpses of fantastical things, that she would push aside as images spurred from a recent fantasy novel. Each musical note, each piece of art, each poem was a tiny sliver of imagination from a world that was so close by, but so far away. They were small attempts to touch on something the human mind could not grasp. Now she saw them unfolded around her like a mystery to a riddle finally revealed.

"I was always afraid. You all called me brave, but I was terrified. At any point I could have died. I could have lost you." She turned around to look at him. "But I couldn't lose you, so there was never anything to be afraid of, was there?"

"Nope." Soul took a seat on the grass and reached for her. She tumbled towards him, falling into his arms and resting herself in his lap. "There never is, but we always feel that way, every single time."

Yeah. Every single time. She smiled up at him. The longer her soul had to adjust to it's surroundings the more things flooded back her. Naturally she had been told that your life flashes before your eyes before you die, but that wasn't really true. It had been more simple than that, in fact all she had seen in that moment was her great granddaughter's smile as she handed her legacy over. Now though, life was visible to her. Her memories stretched out across the horizon like pictures on a movie screen, every memory completely accessible. They shared in those memories laughing over them and crying over them as if they were watching a picture show in the comfort of their two bedroom apartment.

Memories were an interesting thing because some you forgot that you had forgotten and others were as clear as they day they happened. Reviewing each one together was like living life all over again. Of course they enjoyed reliving the biggest moments, their meeting, their first kiss, their wedding, the birth of their children. Still the ones that they savored the most were not the extraordinary ones, but the ones that favored the moment they were having right then. They were the long lazy afternoons with him playing the guitar as she lay in his lap reading. The time they had slipped out after dark to bathe in a pool completely naked and away from their friends. A moment when she broken down after a fight and he'd comforted her. Yelling at each other while their daughter cried in her arms because they were just too tired to take anymore. Making up after that fight. They were strangers first, weapon and meister second, then friends, then best friends, then lovers, then parents, grandparents, as they changed throughout the years. They remained through it all, soul mates.

It wasn't just that life though. No, they had lived a hundred lives. Some lives were harder than others, some were happier. There were lives where they were all they had and lives where they were surrounded by their families. The same people who they had known in one finding them in another, in a constant loop of new memories and new chances to explore who they could be. Some lives were adventurous and filled with knights and dragons. Others were more ordinary with paper work and office supplies. They were different people in each and yet exactly the same. Sometimes the people around then shaped them for the better, other times for the worst. They were never bad people, but they were sometimes lost and did not know how to live or be kind to others. Those lives made them reach more strongly for justice in the next. It may not always have been easy, but each life had shaped and carved the shape of their souls. They were who they were because of each experience.

Always there were similarities. A scar that somehow made it way to brand his chest, Ruby and Emerald eyes that stood out among the crowds, and blond pigtails they blew in the wind. Inevitably they always met, and fell in love. Sometimes their situations had allowed that love to flow easily, sometimes they had a lot of growing up to do before admitting that it was the other they needed. Sometimes there were children and sometimes they explored the vast places in their temporary homes without anyone tying them down. Their lives were sometimes magical and full of transformations. He'd been a weapon more than once; a dragon on a couple of occasions; even a circus freak. She had once been a poor girl who had yearned for the attention of a prince and a fairy who had kept herself hidden away in the woods.

Typically they made their love work, but sometimes circumstances made love difficult. In one particularly sad review, they'd divorced after the death of a child, and spent the rest of their lives missing half of themselves. She sobbed over that, remembering the pain of never finding again what had made her so happy. Soul held her as she cried, as he always did when they were in between looking over and evaluating everything before they decided whether to embark on their next great journey. This was always where they returned to each other. No matter what had happened in their lives this was where they met again and where their souls played together. It was where everything was forgiven and everything understood.

When they finished reliving all that they needed and when they had collected and become one with all their memories, a haze of sunset had fallen over the landscape. It's colors were so rich and beautiful that she sighed as she leaned back against him. It may have been merely a resting place, but she could sit there forever with him. Maybe it was as close to Heaven as she needed to be. Heaven awaited them in a far corner, a mist of afterlife that their adventurous souls had never really reached for. Some souls were content to sit in it's peacefulness forever, but Soul and Maka had chosen to relieve life over and over again. They happily greeted each new opportunity to learn and grow. Someday all souls would rest there, but now wasn't their moment. As she watched the sun dipping into a rainbow sky she couldn't help but wonder about what new world they could find.

She felt his fingers stroke her hair. His lips were warm against her skin and she knew that he was not looking out at the sunset. They held to each other for a long time watching as the sun rose and set over the valley. They watched as the world changed and shaped itself, rivers carving out land and the sea swallowing the earth again. It's rhythm was perfect and it's harmony sung along with the notes to their souls.

"Soul?"

"I'm ready when you are." They knew before the other had spoken that they were ready to go back. It meant saying goodbye and it meant letting go, but it was one tiny blip on the radar of eternity and it did not frighten them. Ahead of them was another journey, another life to reach out towards and take to it's fullest. Their loved ones were already there. Even a person who carried the soul of a Shinigami who had long since passed his throne down to his child was being given new life. New images settled upon them as they watched things that would be forgotten in life. Her father and mother awaiting the birth of a child they were sure was a boy. His brother excited to finally have another child. They did not know if their loved ones would learn their lessons this time or if the same mistakes would be repeated. They shivered with excitement at the anticipation of sharing in life with them again.

They stood waiting for those final screams of a mother accepting life through her own body, as Maka had done herself so many times. He pulled her close to him and leaned down to kiss her, savoring and committing it to memory. It would have to tide them over until the bubbling of new romance met them again. Together they then walked hand in hand to the black iron doors again. They each held onto handle and looked to each other. "I'll see you soon."

"I know."

They left the in between and allowed darkness to envelop them once again. It was cold and it was dark and she cried in that darkness as life roughly grabbed hold of her and shoved itself into her lungs. She screamed then because the impact of being torn away from the other half of her soul caused nearly unbearable physical pain. Yet, she was soothed by the comfort of familiar eyes and the reassurance of parents she had long missed, who leaned in closely to coo at the life they had created. The world that she had left behind hung in the air like a blanket around her. She was still completely aware of what she had left behind, but little by little the memories were fading because the human mind can not carry so much. She'd forget it all soon and then she'd really be set into her new life. For now though she carried it into her slumber lulled to sleep by the safety of her mother's heartbeat.

Later Spirit would look in through the glass paned windows and show off his beautiful little angel to his friend Stein. "ISN'T SHE JUST THE CUTEST LITTLE THING IN THE WHOLE WORLD!?"

"Careful, you don't want to wake them all up. I don't really want to listen to them screaming." Stein was wishing heavily for a cigarette.

The babies were lined up in rows. Little boys and girls wrapped up in matching pink and blue blankets, hair covered by tiny hats. "Maka Albarn" was written in cursive on a white sticker over the clear plastic box. Spirit couldn't take his eyes off of her.

"Hey look." Stein pointed to the kid in the box next to her. "That ones already awake and pretty quiet. I like that kid, yours cries too much." He was striking because few children were born with red eyes. "Weird eye color, though."

Spirit was about to freak out about how 'his daughter did not cry that much and she was a baby and allowed to and kids that didn't cry were just weird anyway,' but he something made him pause and his brows furrowed at the baby. He had a feeling about that kid, something he didn't quite like. "Soul Evans." He huffed. "Weird name. I don't like him."

"He's just a baby?"

"Yeah well, I don't like him." At that moment the baby turned his head and appeared to be looking directly at his little girl. "LOOK LOOK! He's staring at my Maka. Nurse! Nurse! You need to move him away from her right this minute!" The nurses looked at him terribly confused and in embarrassment Stein grabbed his friends arm.

"Okay. That's enough. It's time for a cigarette break." He dragged him down the hallway but it was awhile before the sobs of her name actually went silent.

Within the quiet of the nursery room, Soul watched her sleep. His red eyes bore into hers. With a wide yawn, her own little green eyes opened up slowly and they saw each other.

And they smiled.

* * *

_Her head lay against his lap. It was a gorgeous summer day and the wind made itself visible through the branches of the trees, shifting the shading on her face. There was a peace that settled over her and she fought with sleep. His hand moved to play with one of her pigtails, absently stroking it as he read through a comic book._

_"Hey Soul."_

_"Yeah Maka?"_

_"I had a weird dream last night."_

_"Yeah? 'Bout what?"_

_She looked up at him, reaching up to stroke his arm. "You could turn into a weapon and I was your…I think I called myself a 'meister', you know, like the person who wielded you."_

_"Was I a cool weapon?"_

_"The coolest. You were this giant scythe…though you kind of looked like a toucan." She laughed. "Pretty silly huh?"_

_"A little thing like you wielding a giant scythe that looks like a toucan, yeah I'd say."_

_She sighed a little, it had felt so real. Oh well, maybe if she napped she dream about it again, maybe she'd be able to understand it._

_"But, not any weirder than that one dream I had about me being a human dragon and keeping you as a pet."_

_"Yeah, nowhere near as weird." They smiled at each other and her eyes felt heavy again. She felt as if there was something she couldn't quite put her finger on. It was on the tip of her tongue, but just out of reach._

_Maybe there were simply things in life that could never be fully understood._

_Maybe that was the very beauty of it._


End file.
